18 year old kids know it isn't a good deal. If their parents have insurance and are able to keep it, they'll be covered until they're 26, and having student loan debt probably isn't as scary to them if they've seen multiple people (older siblings and friends) in their lives talk about it and be (relatively) okay. At the same time as that, there's also been enough of a reaction against going to college/taking on big debts that the idea of learning a trade is having a comeback as well. Given that 4 years is a hell of a long time at 18 and the prospect of an extremely structured environment sounds pretty bad to lots of people, it's a no-brainer that kids aren't even considering it.